New Technology Foresees Trees, not Grain, in the Tank

Conventional biofuels like rapeseed oil and ethanol are ecologically problematic and threaten food supplies. Now a Germany company says it has the solution: an advanced fuel made from wood and other non-food biomass.

The facility is fairly small. And even if all goes smoothly, its production will also be fairly modest -- just 13,500 metric tons of diesel fuel a year as compared with Germany's annual consumption of 30 million tons. Still, this tiny refinery in the eastern German town of Freiberg has managed to attract a number of highly prominent visitors, including the CEOs and leading researchers of both Mercedes and Volkswagen.

And they won't be the only ones at the facility's grand opening. Top managers from Shell will be there, as will German Chancellor Angela Merkel. After all, the small cluster of concrete silos, combustion chambers and catalyzers owned by Choren Industries is worth paying tribute to. The only facility of its kind in the world, it is designed to turn wood into fuel for cars -- and thus represents a decisive step toward so-called "second generation" biofuels.

Over the past few weeks, support for conventional biofuels, such as rapeseed (canola) oil and ethanol, has reached new lows, with many doubting whether they provide any benefits at all. Promoting these first generation biofuels through tax incentives and compulsory admixtures has proven to be a misguided approach. But the fiasco was perfectly predictable.

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